Appearances
by Cunri of the Mountains
Summary: A glimpse into Megamind's childhood. One-shot


Warden paced a shabby trail in the stiff carpet of his small office, concern etched in his stoic face. From the corner of his eye, he watched the young teacher speedily drive from the prison parking lot. With a glum sigh, he sunk into his desk chair, cradling his head in his calloused hands. Shuffling feet drew his attention towards the young boy in the doorway. His orange jumpsuit was splattered with mud from his collar to his bare feet, but that was nothing new. The worry in his large, green eyes broke the warden's heart.

"Was that Miss Summer?" he asked hesitantly, clutching the fishbowl tighter to his chest.

"Well," Warden began, demanding his brain to find the proper words. "Yes, she was here to discuss your – your grades."

"My grades?" He scrunched his nose and plopped down in the chair opposite of Warden's.

"She was concerned by a few of the answers on the last test."

His eyes fell to the floor. "Oh, you mean the vocab test?"

"I know you're smart – heck, I'd even call you a genius – but you need to work on reading and writing."

"I hate shool," he muttered, "Why do I even have to go?"

Warden sighed, "To learn abou-"

He leapt to his feet, "But I'm smarter than all of them! You know I am. But they act like I'm-" He cut himself off with an exasperated huff.

"I know it's hard, but you can't give up. You can't let appearances-"

"Appearances?" He said distantly, looking at the pigment of his hands.

Warden's face felt hot, "No, I didn't mean-"

His green eyes lit up. "That's it!" He raced from the room, sloshing the piranha in the bowl as he ran.

Warden arrived at the prison half an hour early. With relief, he noticed the walls were still intact as he stepped lightly down the halls the little boy's cell. He was sleeping on the bare floor, tools scattered around him life leaves in the fall.

The piranha at his feet glance up at Warden, the rolled his spherical fish bowl close to the child's shoulders. "Sir, wake up"

Rubbing his big, green eyes, the boy sat up. "What is it, Minion?"

"Good Morning." Warden smiled as the boy shot to his feet so fast, he almost lost his balance and fell.

"Warden, you're early! Look what I built!" He gestured to a bulky box, about cat-sized, sitting on the floor beside him. It seemed to be cobbled together from broken clocks, a couple of forks, bits of twine, and what appeared to be one of the guard's missing iPhone.

"What does it do?" He asked, hoping it would work better than the last invention – It was supposed to warm the floor in the morning so he would not have to walk on cold concrete, but it worked too well. Instead, it warped the iron bars and almost caught his bed sheets on fire.

"Watch this." A large grin spread across his face as he twisted on of the spoons on top of the box. Gears turning, the small machine shone a hazy light over the boy, making him look like a skinny, out-of-focus carrot with bright blue leaves.

"Wow, you're all blurry." Warden smiled supportively.

He looked at his hands. "Dang it!" He growled. "I bet it's the power core." He flipped the machine off, returning to his usual blue self.

Warden leaned on the bars, "What was it supposed to do?"

"It was going to be a holographic projection device."

Warden nodded his head, vowing to stop at the library on his lunch break. "What could you do with it?"

He sighed. "It would project an image of someone else on me. So instead of seeing me, you would see the image of a normal boy."

"And why would you want to be normal? You're extraordinary."

"Does 'extrodinary' mean 'easy to pick last', because that might fit better." He sat next to his failed machine, scribbling new plans on paper.

Warden opened the cell door and knelt next to him. "I know school is really hard for you. It's never fun to feel left out." He tapped the contraption beside them. "But you don't have to pretend to be someone else. You are great just how you are." He stood stiffly and reclosed the door. "I'll be back around lunch time." Warden reminded as he strolled away, leaving the boy chewing his lip.

"Minion," He glanced to the fish. "Is he right?"

"I don't know, sir." The piranha gave a shrug. "I think you're great."

He smiled. "Thanks, Minion." He picked up his tools and began reworking the machine. "I wish more people were like you."


End file.
